The Impending
by TheFirstBaron
Summary: The earth is being invaded by a ruthless alien Invader. The fate of our world rests in the hands of young Dib, but he can't do it alone. He needs help. His enemy is relentless and cunning, but there is only one of him. With a little help, Dib could surely handle one little alien. I mean, at least there aren't more of them!
1. Chapter 1

My name is Dib.

I can't tell you my last name because... Actually, my last name has never been mentioned. Do I even have a last name? Was it ever called out during roll call at Skool? My dad is Professor Membrane, so I guess it could be Membrane but that could just be a pseudonym my dad uses. Wait a minute... Well poop, now that you know who my dad is, I guess you know who I am then!

Yeah, I'm Dib. You probably saw me on that episode of 'Mysterious Mysteries' or heard about me some other way, that crazy kid who claims aliens are invading or that Bigfoot is hiding out in Mexico as a bartender, which he _is_, I mean c'mon, he _shaved_! People have a hard enough time recognising someone who shaves their _beard_, of course no one can tell it's Bigfoot, that's why it's the _perfect disguise_! I'm getting off track, though. That's not what this is about. This is about the _other_ thing. The aliens. Yeah, that's right. Aliens are invading.

Well, _an_ alien.

They only sent one. He's not very good at invading, but doesn't make him any less _dangerous_. His name is Zim, he's an Irkin who has infiltrated my Skool and fooled everyone into believing he's just some kid with a 'skin condition'. Seriously. His skin is _green_ people! Tell me, what skin condition gives you green skin?! I'm getting distracted again. I've been valiantly warding off Zim's attacks against humanity for a while now. It's been hard at times, his base is heavily fortified with laser turret defenses and guarded by a ruthless robot designated 'GIR' that has assumed the form of a vicious dog, yet despite all of this, I, the great Dib, have been tirelessly and diligently facing off against Zim, regardless of the disbelief, the mockery, the humiliation the unbelieving public has subjected me to.

But I need help. I've been fighting Zim for a long time now, like nearly a year or something, but we've reached a sort of stalemate. I can't do this alone. I've considered asking my sister, Gaz to join me in my cause, but I really can't afford the amount of pizza needed to entice her, so I need to look elsewhere. I can't turn to anyone in this city, they're all just so... _stupid! _Not only that, but the Swollen Eyeball Network, a secret organisation of which I am a member, is ignoring my calls, so I've had to look elsewhere for help. Outside of the city.

Come to think of it, I've never actually been out of the city before. I mean, I've been to Mars, travelled through space, but I've never actually left the city. But someone out there has got to be able to help me, to not immediately brush me off. Because if there isn't, well the stakes are too high.


	2. Chapter 2

"Get me some pizza while you're out!" Gaz shouted from the living room couch as I made my way out the front door. She was in her usual spot, playing her Game Slave 2 and watching T.V at the same time.

"I told you, Gaz, I'm heading out of the city to recruit allies to help me take the fight to Zim!"

I heard Gaz pause her Game Slave and mute the T.V. "Out of the city? Why would you want to do that?" She asked, incredulously.

"Well, it's not like I'm getting much help here!" I retorted, regretting the comment almost immediately. If Gaz thought I was making a jab at her, she could make my day very... Uncomfortable.

I heard her jump off the couch and help my breath. Seconds ticked away, feeling like years. "I'm coming with you, then." She said, walking over to where I was.

"What? Why?" I asked, stunned. You see, Gaz _never_ helped me, not unless there was either something in it for her, something was bothering her or she had nothing better to do. I studied my sister nervously. She stood there holding her orange, oval-shaped Game Slave 2, dressed in her usually attire, purple-and-black striped tights, a black shirt adorned with a skull and grey-and-black striped long sleeves. Her eyes were brown, not unlike my own, but where my hair was black with a single, horizontal jagged spike shooting back over my head from my fringe, her hair was purple, with her spiked hair taking a more vertical direction over her face and covering her ears, our spiked hair having been inherited from our father.

"Because I want to see what sort of pizzerias they have outside of this dump." She replied, nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes. Typical. Gaz was my younger sister by about... Actually, I don't really know how old Gaz is. Weird. Come to think of it, how old am I? I go to Skool, but what grade am I...? I'm getting off track again. As I was saying, Gaz is my younger sister and there are only two things she cares about; Her Game Slave and Pizza. Like I said, she never helps me unless there's something in it for her.

"Fine." I relented, rolling my eyes. I knew better than to argue with Gaz, "But we're taking the bus. I don't want to risk any more malfunctions from Tak's ship."

Tak was another Irkin Invader who had revealed herself not too long ago, but I had defeated her quite promptly. And quite courageously, I might add. I had managed to secure her ship and upload my personality into its main computer, but a few... issues surfaced. Entirely the result of poor Irkin programming. Nothing I could have done about it. Regardless, I couldn't risk another episode, which left us with public transportation. Making our way outside, we hailed a bus and proceeded on our way.

* * *

The bus ride went much the way you'd exect a bus ride to go. Someone coughing, wheezing, crying and drooling as well as the other passengers. Gradually the bus load became less and less until it was only Gaz, the bus driver, a green-skinned, elderly man with his dog and myself left on board. I wasn't fooled for a moment. Walking to the back of the bus, I stood in front of the green-skinned old man and his green dog. The man's ratty clothes and long, grey beard didn't fool me.

"I know it's you, Zim." I sighed, "You've used this disguise before, did you really think it would work a second time?"

The 'old man' feigned ignorance, "Eh? What you say? You'll have to speak up, I'm quite deaf and need my hearing-ear dog to help me around!"

I thew my hands in the air in disbelief, "C'mon, Zim! There's no such thing as a 'hearing-ear dog'! Or a green one for that matter! Just take this ridiculous thing off and tell me why you're-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOWWWWW!" The old man cried out in pain cutting me off mid-sentence, the hair of his beard tangled between my fingers from attempting to yank it off. The dog yipped, tail wagging before nuzzling up to his master and pressing a series of buttons with its' nose on a wrist device I hadn't noticed before, which ran a cable to a small device attached to the side of the man's head.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, sonny, or who you think I am, but I will not stand for this sort of abuse!"

"I-I'm sorry!" I stammered, mouth agape, "I thought you were someone else!" I mumbled as I hurried back to my seat, the little dog pressing more buttons.

"Way to go, Dib" Gaz muttered, not looking up from her Game Slave, "You ever think he took his dog to a salon or something? It's not polite to discriminate against the handicapped."

I slumped back into my seat, sulking for a moment, before I noticed the bus beginning to slow. "End of the line." The bus driver called back. I walked to the driver and looked him over for the first time in the trip. He was a tall, lanky man, almost noodle thin with spiked red hair and a pair of glasses not too different from my own. His long trench coat looked almost out-of-place for a bus driver and a small fish bowl sat on the dashboard, housing what looked like a piranha.

"But we aren't even out of the city yet!" I exclaimed, looking out the windows. We were parked in a tunnel of sorts, a few hundred yards from the exit.

The driver shrugged, "This is as far as I can take you." He replied, almost dismissively, "My authority only goes so far."

"What authority?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"City Bus Authority. Now get off my bus, kid."

Muttering to myself, Gaz, the old man, his dog and I made our way off the bus and started walking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. The old man didn't say too much, he just whistled some awful, off-key tune, while his dog wagged his tail and Gaz played her Game Slave.

Exiting the tunnel, I had to blink momentarily to help my eyes adjust and opened them slowly. Only to have what felt like a blade pressed against my throat and what looked like and mouthless, blue centaur glowering at me while a group of weird looking kids looked at me in shock.

**"It would seem we have a problem."** A voice said, inside my head.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nice time to be out of morph, Ax." One of the strangers said, sarcastically. I would have described him as hispanic in appearance, but he just looked so... strange.

**"My two hours had expired, Marco. If you prefer, I could have become a human **_**nothlit**_**?"** The voice said in my head again. It had to be some sort of telepathy, but from who? The centaur? It had to be some sort of mutant, clearly. It had two tiny eyes on its face with another two atop its head on some sort of moving stalks. There was no mouth that I could see, but a sort of slitted nose where a nose should be. It's ears were pointed and its upper torso was clearly human with a horse-like lower torso. From its rear extended a long, slender, blue tail that crept to my throat, apparently holding the blade to my neck. What was it? Some sort of human-horse-scorpion-snail mutation? This was bigger than Bigfoot!

**"What do you want me to do with these... creatures, Prince Jake?"**

"Don't call me... You know what, forget it, there are more important things going on right now." answered a slender, brown-haired boy, stepping forward. They all looked like they were in their teens, but they were _huge!_ They looked like they were all at least as tall as my father! "I... I don't know. I mean, what _are _they? They look human, but..." The boy scratched his head, "Are you... aliens?"

I balked at that, "Hardly!" I exclaimed, slightly offended, "We're human, like you! Well... I think like you, anyway.." I trailed off.

**"They don't look like any human I've ever seen before."** came a new voice in my head as a bird fluttered down to perch itself not too far from where I stood. The way it regarded me, I could almost swear that it had been the one to talk! **"I mean, look at their eyes! Their **_**huge!**_** And their pupils are **_**square**_** and don't even get me started on the size of that kids head!"**

I threw my hands up in the air at the comment, causing the blade at my throat to press tighter against my skin, "C'mon! It's not that big!" The old man beside me snickered.

**"There is also the matter of the one with the furry face,"** The other mind-voice said, **"It's skin is green. Correct me if I am wrong, but in my time here on earth, I have not encountered a green-skinned human. Its canine companion also seems bizarre. It is standing on its hind legs and appears to have a zipper on its back reminiscent of human clothing."**

The old man jumped backwards suddenly, knocking into Gaz, who was still largely distracted by her game, causing her Game Slave to drop to the ground, "Gir! We've been discovered! Battle stations!"

The green dog suddenly jumped out of its own skin, revealing a small, silver robot with a cylindrical head and burning red eyes, "YES, MY MASTER!"

"Zim!" I cried in shock at the appearance of his robot lackey, "I knew it was you!" But it was too late, Gir was already soaring through the air, twisting and turning into one, no two, no _three_ flips, landing in the middle of the stunned group!

"Look out!" came the cry of one of the strangers, but it was too late! I one swift movement, Gir... Sat on the ground and started blowing raspberry's while grabbing his feet and rocking back and forth, his eyes shifting to a sky blue colour.

"What... What is happening right now?" asked the dark-haired hispanic boy as the others looked on in absolute confusion.

Slowly, I started to hear a deep, threatening growl behind me. I knew that growl. I _feared_ that growl. "Zim..." Gaz said, menacingly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Zim, still in his disguise, back away slowly from my sister as she prowled towards him.

"Gir! Gir! Help meeeeeee! Protect me from this human!" He screamed, attempting to shield himself with his hands, but it was no use. Gaz grabbed Gir by one leg, who had nonchalantly wandered over at his masters call, and started beating Zim over the head with him with one hand, the other tearing the fake beard and disguise off of him.

"WHEEEEEEEE! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Gir cried in glee as he was used to bludgeon his master. Within the group of strangers, a tall blonde girl started to laugh loudly.

"I like the purple-haired one! She's my kind of girl!" She said as she watched on.

"Okay, that is _enough!_" the brown haired boy said, stepping forward, grabbing Gir's head in mid-swing.

"Awwww... But I wanted to be a club..." Gir cried.

"_Now_," the boy said, looking at us evenly, "Who are you all and what are you doing in this barn?" he asked, sounded slightly irritated.

Looking around I could see that we actually were in a barn, which made no sense. We'd walked _out_ of a tunnel and apparently walked _in_ to a barn full of animals, a group of kids and a centaur-mutant! Many of the animal looked like they were being treated for injuries. Amongst the group of strangers was the mutant centaur, the brown-haired boy, the blonde girl, the hispanic boy and a young black girl, and they were all staring at us, expectantly.

"My name is Dib," I said slowly, "And that's my sister Gaz," I nodded over to my sister, "And _that_ is Zim. You've got to be careful, he's an alien and he's been sent here too-"

"Clearly he's an alien," interrupted the brown-haired boy, rolling his eyes, "Ordinary people don't have green skin and robotic dogs."

My eyes grew wide with disbelief. They were _smart!_ They weren't fooled by Zim's disguise like the everyone else! They used common sense and logic! Like _me!_ I had found them! After all this time I had found people who could help me take down Zim!

"YES!" I cried, jumping up in excitement, completely ignoring the mutant centaurs blade-tail, causing the creature to pull it back in surprise, "You have no idea how long I've been looking for people like you! This is amazing!" I ran toward the brown-haired boy, hugging him in pure rapture.

"Woah, woah, woah, _woah!_" The boy said, pushing me away, "That doesn't explain _you._" he said, looking me up and down, "I mean, why do you look so... Strange?"

"Yeerk Genetic experimentation?" The black girl spoke up for the first time, "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, just look at the blue band Hork-Bajir!"

**"Sure, but why?"**retorted the other mind-voice. At this point I was certain it came from the bird. **"I mean, look at them! What could the Yeerks possibly have to gain from big eyed humans with anti-gravity hair? I mean, they're barely as tall as Marco!"**

"Har har har. Very funny, Tobias." The hispanic boy replied, sourly, apparently the one named 'Marco', since he was shorter than the others, "Maybe the Yeerks just figure out great things come in small packages?"

**"No, Tobias is right,"** came the mind-voice of the blue centaur, **"I can think of no way that this type of human physiology would be useful to the Yeerks. They almost look like Gedd, and they are regarded as the lowliest of hosts. Also, I do not believe there is a specific genetic structure tied to "anti-gravity" hair, as you put it."**

"Wait a minute!" I said, holding up my hands, "Why do _I_ look so strange, what about all of _you?_ I mean, you're eyes are _tiny!_ Where are we anyway? Is this Canada?"

Behind me, Zim groaned, still too injured to move after Gaz's attack, Gaz having since gone back to playing her Game Slave.

"Okay, how about we just let him explain and we'll figure it all out from there?" The black girl said, holding her hands up in an attempt to calm the situation. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dib. My name is Cassie, and this is Jake, Marco, Rachel, Ax and Tobias." She said, introducing the group to me, "Now why don't you start at the beginning?"

* * *

"And so we walked the rest of the of the way through the tunnel and ended up right here is your doorway." I said, finishing my recount of everything I could think of, from Zim's arrival, his attempts at invasion, Tak, Mars, _everything_.

The group just started at me. Zim and Gir, at my insistence, had been placed in one of the animal cages, much to the discomfort of Cassie, who seemed against such treatment. Gaz sat on a hay bale, playing her Game Slave and the others continued to just look at me.

"something's not right here," said the blonde girl, Rachel, "I mean, everything he's said doesn't make sense. A giant hamster attacking a city? Mars turning into a ship and rocketing round space? Not even the Yeerks could cover that up, so why haven't we heard about it? Ax, you ever heard of these 'Irkin' guys he's talking about?"

**"I have not."** Replied 'Ax', his 'voice' entering my mind yet again, **"But the Andalites have not encountered every race in the galaxy."**

"Wait, so you're an alien, too?" I asked, looking the blue creature up and down. I guess that answered the 'mutant' question'. "So why are you here? You're not here to invade earth to, are you?"

"No. Quite the opposite in fact. He is here to prevent an invasion." A voice said behind me.

Spinning around, I saw an elderly man standing in the doorway of the barn. His skin was a kind of glowing blue colour and he had the look of a wise man.

"Oh, great. This can't be good." Marco exclaimed behind me, throwing his hands in the air, "What have you and Crayak done this time?"

"_We_ have done nothing." The elderly man replied, "In fact we are both quite confused by this groups sudden appearance. They are not from any world or timeline in this universe from what we can tell."

"Universe?" Marco replied, "Wait a minute, you're saying these guys are from another _universe_? How does that even work?"

"We do not know," The old man admitted, "Our influence only extends to _this_ universe. These individuals are an anomaly, a foreign agent almost. They appeared quite abruptly with an announcement of sorts, in human english no less. They seem to abide by a set of physical laws quite different from this universe which is still anchored to their physical being, meaning that while they are in _this_ universe, they still act if they are experiencing the physics of their _own_ universe. Neither Crayak or I could discern where they had come from or what they were, so I halted time around you all in an attempt to gain some information on them, hence why you have yet to be interrupted in your interrogation."

I was more than a little confused at this point. Apparently the creature in front of me was some sort of time-controlling alien. Not only that, apparently by exiting the tunnel, Gaz, Zim, Gir and I had exited our _universe_! It was almost too much for even _me_ to process!

"Wait, you said they appeared with an announcement," Jake asked, "What sort of announcement?"

The old man wrinkled his brow, "You deal with them." he said, plainly.


End file.
